Thoughts After a Loss
by Peanutpaw
Summary: Reflections of the losses in the Vytal Festival. Completed
1. Team NDGO

Disclaimer: i don't own RWBY or the characters

Summary: Nebula Violette reflects on her team after their loss in the Vytal Festival

Rating: K

Notes: just a dumb drabble from a dumb headcanon that popped into my head about team ndgo; it's only vaguely hinted at but the headcanon is that team ndgo is all trans

* * *

Stepping onto the field for the first time in the Vytal Festival was exhilarating, no student could deny that feeling. Maybe it was the loud cheering from the stands, the cocky faces of the opponents, or the announcers flattering the sparing teams that filled the contestants with adrenaline, but no matter what, once on the field, each team member's heart would beat as one.

Nebula Violette was certainly confident as she strutted to the center with her teammates to her sides, squaring up the presumptuous faces of the four boys in front of them. From overhead they could hear the professors of Beacon introducing them for the next battle.

" _Team NDGO of Shade is certainly a crowd favorite_ ," Professor Port's deep voice rang out, " _but these lovely ladies are going against some of the toughest, testosterone-filled teammates we've seen so far_!"

The four girls shared knowing looks, holding back giggles, before looking back to their opponents with raised eyebrows.

.

After the fight, despite loosing, NGDO strolled out smiling. Nebula ran a hand over her hilt of her weapon, glancing over at Gwen struggling to return her throwing knives to their original places. Octavia huffed with crossed arms, no doubt still upset over her being the first to be out, Dew simply patting her shoulder in condolence. The four girls continued their walk, looking for an open space in the fairgrounds to relax.

"Those announcers sure had some interesting quips," Nebula mused outwardly, "didn't they?" The other three looked over to their leader as they approached an open table, sitting down with matching sighs.

"Some pretty bad puns, that's for sure," Dew responded, rolling her eyes at the memory.

"What about those boys though?" Octavia teased

"Team SSSN? The "toughest, testosterone-filled" _dorks_?" Gwen laughed. "If we were in a looks competition I bet we'd win."

Nebula smirked, leaning on her elbows as her teammates moved into small talk. She couldn't help be keep the professor's words in her mind. _Lovely ladies_. And they were, to be brutally honest; they worked hard for the looks they gained and weren't afraid to flaunt what they had. Looking at her teammates—no, friends—her smile turned fond as she remembered the people they were only a year before.

Their freshman year, the four girls were nearly complete opposites to who they were now. Their selves from last year would be in awe at the people they would become only a little over a year later. Coming into their school they knew who they were, there was no doubt about that, but they still weren't comfortable just yet.

Gwen Darcy was shy, wearing loose fitting clothing and teasing with the chewed ends of her nails and rarely looked others in the eye due to her lack of confidence. Dew Gayl, while only slightly less shy, wore simple clothes with clunky armor across her chest, wearing more flashy clothes up to once or twice a month. Octavia Ember, however, wore the clothes she wanted, the dresses and skirts she wanted, the tight shirts she wanted, and she wore them with unrivaled pride and as flashy as she could. And when the four were getting to know each other, when they discovered all their similarities, they knew things would be just fine.

Flash forward a year and a half and the four girls now held themselves with pride, their past selves fondly looked back upon as mere starting points for their grand reveal.

Nebula guessed she was lost in thought longer than she intended because her teammates were looking at her with curious looks. She lifted her head, turning towards her friends, and sat up straighter in attention. "What?"

"Neb," Gwen leaned in with an unnecessary whisper, "you've been staring at us since we sat down. Is there something wrong?"

"Of course not," Nebula assured, giving a soft smile, "just thinking about some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just…stuff." Her team looked at each other, knowing they wouldn't get much else from their leader.

"Okay then, well whatever you're thinking of can be put on hold for the time being, right?" Octavia asked with an impatient eye roll.

"Of course, like I said, it's just some stuff, nothing important."


	2. Team BRNZ

Disclaimer: still don't own RWBY or the characters

Summary: May Zedong is a little hung about the loss to team JNPR

Rating: still K

Notes: turns out i'm making this a series? not much headcanon in this, and i don't know if i'm quite happy with it but whatever

* * *

"That just wasn't fair!" May cried, stomping her feet, as she followed her teammates through the fairgrounds. "We totally should have won that!" The rest of the team just rolled their eyes at the girl's tantrum; they did agree with what she said, but they didn't feel that throwing a fit would do anything.

"Are you going to complain all day or…?" Brawnz drawled, placing a hand on his hip as he stopped to turn to the girl. May just looked up at her team leader, puffing her cheeks and squaring up her shoulders.

"Yes! I am! And I have a good reason to!"

"I'll agree with you that they had their flaws, but that doesn't mean we're without ones of our own, May."

"What do you mean by that?"

At this point, Roy and Nolan had walked ahead, ignoring the fuss behind them and selecting a place to sit down and check on their weapons. This wasn't a rare occurrence among the team in all honesty; May and Brawnz got into quite a few arguments every week and they were just used to it at this point.

May Zedong was headstrong and blunt, not afraid to speak up to anyone in charge; and while this caused many problems, both in the team and with teachers, that didn't mean she didn't have any respect. Brawnz Ni was, usually, level-headed and collected, but could easily snap out if provoked. Simply because of the people they were made the two fought, always with words, always careful not to escalate into real violence.

Brawnz sighed, looking between where Roy and Nolan sat and May, hoping she would catch on that he would like to sit down. "I've told you you need to work on your aim, haven't I?"

"So?" May snarled, moving past the taller male, sitting down next to Nolan with force. "I succeeded in making them run, didn't I?"

"But if this was a mission, simply making the enemy run for cover wouldn't be enough!"

"Do you have a problem with what I do? It's what you told me to do, you know!"

The two went back and forth for awhile, thankfully not attracting any attention as May's voice rose higher. They would have continued if it weren't for Nolan placing a hand on May's, grabbing tightly and sending her a warning look. Whipping her head to her partner, she stared into his eyes with fire, daring him to say something.

Falling into silence, team BRNZ went to watching the people move around them. Brawnz sighed and rested his head on a propped up hand, May leaning back in her seat, keeping herself from falling by grabbing the edge of the table. The squabble now stayed where it was, there wasn't much else to say anyway. What happened happened, nothing much else to say.


	3. Team ABRN

Disclaimer: still don't own RWBY

Summary: Reese Chloris makes her team nearly faint, but at least she looked super cool

Rating: K (though there is one swear)

Notes: idea comes from a prompt on tumblr ( post/128782079462/imagine-your-gang-of-misfits-watching-with)

* * *

"This isn't going to go well," Arslan sighed, running a hand through her wavy hair. She shifted her weight to one leg, resting one hand on her hip and bringing the other to cup around her mouth. "Reese, seriously, you're going to hurt yourself!"

High above, standing on the frame of an old building, Reese leaned over, waving her leader off. She looked out forward, grinning widely at the decrepit space before her. This was probably her best idea yet. Squatting down, she set her board on the ground, making sure it was sturdy before putting one foot on, the other ready to kick off.

"Reese Chloris is the ultimate skater!" She screeched, launching down the make-shift ramp at full speed. She could make out Arslan shouting expletives, Bolin smiling weakly, and Nadir nearly fainting. Her grin could rival the one of the fabled Cheshire Cat. Wiggling her hips, she navigated around the rubble below, careful to duck under the hanging beams.

Glancing at her team to send a wink, she wasn't able to register the hole in front that was followed up by a beam bending sideways. Reese gulped, steeling herself to make the beam a temporary ramp, speeding up almost dangerously. As her board ran out of pole, she began to lose her balance and tip over. Her teammates were screaming at this point, Arslan in anger, Bolin in encouragement, and Nadir in worry.

The ground seemed to rise rapidly towards her as she plummeted down; attempting to set herself upright, Reese braced herself for impact. When the board finally reached the concrete, she felt a strong sting shoot up her legs, her control loosening as her knees all but broke under the pressure. Collapsing on the floor with a grunt, she couldn't even bother wincing at the pain of gravel scratching her cheeks.

Groaning loudly, Reese grinned to herself as she heard the fast sound of footsteps running towards her. She could faintly make out Arslan scolding her, kneeling down and rolling her over. Reese closed her eyes, blissfully smiling as she weakly lifted a fist in victory.

.

Green eyes fluttered open, taking in the already familiar sight of the Vytal Festival's infirmary tent. After only a few moments, the red tent disappeared and was replaced with the displeased face of ARBN's leader.

"'Sup, Arslan," Reese grinned, "how many times have we been here, now?"

Arslan scoffed, crossing her arms. "Reese," her voice dripping with vexation, "why do you insist on doing stupid stunts?"

"Parkour?"

"Dear Dust, Chloris," Arslan ran her hands through her hair, rocking backwards with impatience. "You're going to kill yourself one of these days with your stupid actions."

"Oh please, I won't kill myself…maybe critically hurt myself, but not kill…speaking of, I don't think I can feel my legs."

"You don't think? You either can feel your legs, or you can't, which is it?" Reese shrugged as best as she could in her position.

"Maybe you can kiss it better?" Arslan's glare quickly shut Reese up.

The two sat in silence, the only sound being the bustle of the fair grounds outside. Arslan glanced over to her teammate. Reese had her eyes closed, her breathing soft and relaxed, it was a rare sight in all honesty. The girl was always in a rush, cocky and headstrong, running into situations after just barely listening to orders. Still, Arslan was glad she had the girl on her team.

Breathing in through her nose, Arslan straightened her back and uncrossed her arms. "Why?"

Reese opened one eye, brows raised curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you do that dangerous stunt back there?"

"I'unno," Reese glanced away, eyes drooping as she shuffled slightly under the thin blanket.

"You know what I think?" Reese briefly looked over, obviously trying not to listen. "I think you're upset over loosing the other day."

"What?" Reese spun around, wincing at the pain in her neck, glaring at her leader.

"I mean what I said, Reese."

"Well that's bullshit!"

There was more silence, this time sounding as if the festival wasn't there, that the tent was a separate space in time. Eventually, as all things do, the silence broke as Bolin and Nadir moved in. Reese gave them a weak smile, receiving the same in response.

Maybe Arslan was right, maybe Reese was upset over loosing; but either way, she still totally nailed it. Reese Chloris, Queen of Parkour.


	4. Update

Update

So, I know some people may waiting for the next chapter, and I'm sorry to let you down, but I don't have much inspiration to finish. I would like to, but I couldn't think of more scenarios and was already grasping at straws. As some who may follow me may have noticed I've been writing a lot of rosewick and that's, well, that's because I've had a strong muse for it.

Thanks to those of you who followed this and enjoyed it, maybe one day I'll come back to this!

ゝ◡Óノ❤


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